Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 11 World Cup appearances and 3 medals in the Olympics, the Swedish team finished second in the 1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, being beaten by Brazil 5–2 in the final. Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994; in 1938, they finished fourth.

Sweden played its first international game against Norway on 12 July 1908, an 11–3 victory. Other matches in 1908 were played against England, Great Britain, the Netherlands (twice) and Belgium; Sweden lost all five matches. In the same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time. Sweden, however, lost a game in the Olympics against the Great Britain 1–12, the biggest loss in the Swedish national team's history.

The 1938 World Cup was Sweden's second qualification for the World Cup; in the first round, they were scheduled to play against Austria, but after Germany's occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the quarter-final match against Cuba, they beat Cuba 8–0 with both Harry Andersson (on his debut) and Gustav Wetterström scoring hat-tricks. In the semi-final match against Hungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Sweden's next match was the third-place match against Brazil; in that game the Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in fourth place for the first and only time in Swedish football history.

In the first round, Sweden played against Austria, the Austrian team had qualified without their professional players, which was a surprise since the Austrian league had many professional players who were allowed to play in the tournament. The match was played at White Hart Lane in London and Sweden won 3–0; in the second game, Sweden played against Korea and won 12–0, one of the two largest margin wins Sweden has ever had. In the semi-final Sweden met their archrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2.

The final was played at legendary Wembley Stadium in London, the attendance was around 40,000 people which was high for a football game in those days. Sweden took on Yugoslavia in the final and won 3–1, with goals by Gunnar Gren (24', 67'), Stjepan Bobek (42') and Gunnar Nordahl (48'). This was Sweden's first championship win in any international football tournament.

In the 1950 World Cup, the Swedish football association did not allow any professional Swedish football players to take part. Consequently, Sweden only fielded amateur players during the tournament.

Qualifying for the tournament as one of six European national teams, Sweden played in the same group as Italy and Paraguay. (India withdrew from the group.)

In the first match, Sweden beat Italy 3–2 in São Paulo, the second match was a 2–2 draw against Paraguay. With the most points in the group, Sweden advanced to the next round.

Their first game in the second stage – also a group format – was against the hosts Brazil, it was played at the Maracanã Stadium with a total attendance of more than 138,000, to this day the record attendance for the Swedish national team. The game ended 7–1 to Brazil and it is rumored that almost everyone in the Brazilian audience waved the Swedes goodbye with their scarfs.

The next game was against Uruguay, who Sweden played against for the first time in World Cup history. Played in São Paulo, Uruguay won the game 3–2, which meant Sweden were unable to play for the gold.

The final game for Sweden in the tournament was played in São Paulo, against Spain. Sweden won 3–1 with goals by Stig Sundqvist (15'), Bror Mellberg (34') and Karl-Erik Palmér (79'). Sweden finished 3rd in the group and took their first World Cup medal, as Sweden was the best placed European team, Sweden was, as the time, regarded "unofficial European champions".

At the Summer Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki, Sweden continued to achieve success and won an Olympic bronze, the following year, the Football Association decided not to allow foreign professionals to play in the national team and the team failed to qualify for the World Championships in Switzerland in 1954 when Sweden only came second in their qualifying group behind Belgium.

In 1956, the Swedish football federation allowed the professional footballers to play for the national team again, giving Swedish football fans hope for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Sweden, the host nation, were in the same group as Mexico, Hungary and Wales.

The first game, Sweden vs Mexico, was played at Sweden's national stadium, Råsunda Stadium, Solna, and was attended by around 32,000 people. Sweden won the game 3–0, taking the lead in Group 3, the next match was against Hungary, who had finished 2nd in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland and were also the 1952 Olympic Champions. Also played at Råsunda, this game ended 2–1 to Sweden, with both goals scored by Kurt Hamrin; in the next match, against Wales, Sweden drew 0–0.

Making it through to the quarter-final, playing at Råsunda for the fourth time in this tournament, Sweden were up against the USSR and won 2–0.

The semifinal at Ullevi, Gothenburg, was the only game in the tournament which Sweden did not play at Råsunda, the crowd of around 50,000 people attended one of the best games Sweden played in the tournament. West Germany led by 1–0 when Erich Juskowiak was sent off in the 59th minute. Sweden won 3–1.

The final was played at Råsunda between host nation Sweden and the 1950 FIFA World Cup runners-up, Brazil, the total attendance was approximately 52,000 people. Brazil ended up winning the World Cup for the first time ever after beating Sweden by 5–2. Sweden consequently became runners-up, the best result for Sweden in any World Cup, after the final match the Brazilian players honoured the host nation by sprinting around the pitch holding a Swedish flag.

After the successful 1958 World Cup, Sweden's fortunes diminished; in the qualification round of the 1962 World Cup, Sweden won its group in impressive fashion (scoring 10 goals and only having 3 goals scored against it), but it still had to win a play-off game against Switzerland to qualify. The game was played in West Berlin, and the Swiss won, 2–1.

Sweden almost got to the UEFA European Championship 1964, they started their play-off against Norway and won the first game and drew in the last game. In the second round, Sweden beat Yugoslavia, 3–2, but they lost the first game; in the quarterfinal, Sweden played against the defending champions, the Soviet Union. Sweden tied the first game but lost the second.

During the 1966 World Cup qualification, Sweden was in the UEFA Qualification group 2. Sweden started the qualification with a draw against West Germany and then a 3–0 victory over Cyprus, but only the winner of the group advanced and Sweden was eliminated with a loss in its next game against West Germany.

Sweden successfully entered the UEFA European Championship in 1968, but they finished in the Qualification group 2.

Sweden's only major success in the '60s was to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, after winning UEFA Group 5 ahead of Norway and France. Sweden finished third in its group, losing a tie-breaker with eventual #4 Uruguay, and did not advance to the elimination round, however, the winner of Sweden's group was eventual world runner-up Italy.

In the qualification of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Sweden was in the same group as Austria, Hungary and Malta. Sweden clinched a narrow win via a classic play off-match against Austria in a snowy Gelsenkirchen, and advanced to the World Cup finals in Germany.

The group Sweden drew into included Uruguay, Netherlands and Bulgaria, the first game against Bulgaria ended in a draw. In the second game against the Netherlands, Sweden drew another tie, the last game of the round was played against Uruguay. That game was the first victory Sweden had in the tournament, when they beat Uruguay 3–0 with goals by Roland Sandberg (74') and Ralf Edström (46', 77'). Sweden finished 2nd in the group and advanced to the second group stage.

In the second group stage, Sweden was defeated in the first game against Poland 0–1, the situation after the defeat against Poland was that if Sweden lost against West Germany with a single goal difference and Yugoslavia defeated Poland, Sweden would be second in the group and play for the bronze medal. But since Poland beat Yugoslavia 2–1, Sweden had to win the game against the host nation, West Germany, in order to finish second in the group.

The game against West Germany was played in Düsseldorf with an attendance of 66,500 people, the Swedish striker Ralf Edström gave the Scandinavian the lead with 1–0 after 29 minutes. But in the second half West Germany took control of the game, even after Roland Sandberg's equalizer after 52 minutes. Germany won 4–2, after the tournament, the German players commented that the game against Sweden was their best game in that tournament. The last game for Sweden was played in Düsseldorf against Yugoslavia. Sweden won that game 2–1, they finished the tournament as the 5th place team. The Swedish team had profiles that Ronnie Hellström, Bo Larsson and Björn Nordqvist.

Sweden did not qualify for the European Championship quarterfinals game in 1976, on 11 May 1976, Sweden lost for the first time since 1937 at home to Denmark.

1978 took Sweden for the third consecutive World Cup. Sweden made it from the qualifiers in a three team group with Switzerland and Norway as opponents, the qualifying session was played in 1976 and 1977 in the World Cup 1978 in Argentina, Sweden played the first match with a draw (1–1) against Brazil. Swedish scorer was Thomas Sjöberg. 1–1 was Sweden's best result so far in the World Cup against Brazil context (the result was repeated between the two countries at the World Cup finals in 1994). The team then lost against Austria (0–1) and Spain (0–1), the Swedish team finished last in the group with 1 point and goal difference 1–3. Several of the profiles from 1974, still with (Larsson, Edström, Nordqvist) but also new players such as Anders Linderoth, Hasse Borg and Torbjörn Nilsson.

After the successful 1970s, reaching all three World Cups. Sweden changed their coach from Georg "Åby" Ericson to Lars "Laban" Arnesson. Arnesson had been a successful coach for Östers IF before becoming national coach, they failed to qualify to the 1982 FIFA World Cup, ending third to Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1983, Sweden met Brazil in Gothenburg to play a friendly, the match ended 3–3, they failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 1984, despite defeating the then reigning world champions Italy 3–0 in Naples, after including two goals by Glenn Strömberg. Sweden however lost both away and at home against the group winner, Romania, the Swedish setbacks continued. After the failed qualification for the 1986 World Cup, Olle Nordin took over the team. When Sweden in the final qualifying round lost her match against Czechoslovakia gone 1–2 while Portugal unexpectedly won 1–0 away against one group of West Germany and took second place in the group, it was West Germany's first loss ever in a World Cup qualifier and the passport was meant for the Swedish team. Lars "Laban" Arnesson was head coach 1980–1986 and did not manage to take Sweden to either the World Cup or European Championship finals when he chose to step down in 1986. Olle Nordin succeeded Lars Arnesson. Losses continued initially by Olle Nordin's admission as coach, and Sweden failed to qualify to the UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany. Sweden did not participate in a single championship between 1978 and 1990. Sweden failed to qualify for every World Cup and European Championship during the 1980s, but won their qualification group for the 1990 World Cup ahead of England and went on to their first World Cup in 12 years. However, the World Cup campaign ended quickly after three 1–2 defeats in the group stage matches, against Brazil, Scotland and Costa Rica, it was so far the only time that Sweden has failed to score points in a World Cup finals, where they participated. After the World Cup Olle Nordin resigned, and Nisse Andersson became a temporary coach until Tommy Svensson took over in 1991.

As the host of the 1992 European Championship, Sweden played in their first European Championship tournament, they were drawn in the group with Denmark, France and England. Sweden managed to advance as group winners ahead of the eventual champions Denmark; in the semi-finals following the group stage Sweden were eliminated by Germany 2–3. The place in the semi-final is Sweden's best result in a European Championship to date.

Sweden qualified for the World Cup at the top of their qualifying group ahead of Bulgaria. Sweden was placed in Group B with Brazil, Cameroon and Russia, the first game against Cameroon looked to be yet another 1–2 loss, (after the 1990 World Cup fiasco with losses of 1–2 in all three games), but in the 75th minute Martin Dahlin scored the equalizer from a rebound shot off of Henrik Larsson and the match finished 2–2. In the next game against Russia, Russia was handed an early penalty and made it 1–0. Sweden managed to come back, with a penalty goal from Tomas Brolin and two goals from Martin Dahlin the final result was written 3–1; in the last group stage match against Brazil, they tied 1–1 after goals by Kennet Andersson ('23) and Romário ('47).

In the first knockout stage match, Sweden faced Saudi Arabia in the extreme heat and humidity of Dallas, where the game started at the hottest time of day- 4:00 p.m. where temperatures went past 40C (104F) in an outdoor stadium. Sweden won 3–1 after two goals from Kennet Andersson and one from Martin Dahlin, the quarter-final match against Romania has become a memorable match for Swedish football fans. After Sweden had scored late in the second half, Romania managed to equalize in the dying minutes of the match, sending it into extra time. Romania's Florin Răducioiu who scored the first goal for Romania, scored his second of the day to take Romania ahead at the 101st minute, but with five minutes left Kennet Andersson scored with a header to make it level at 2–2. The penalty shoot-out began with a miss from Håkan Mild of Sweden, but Thomas Ravelli managed to save two penalties from Daniel Prodan and Miodrag Belodedici giving Sweden the win and making himself a hero. Sweden went through to face Brazil in the semi-finals, they had managed to score in the group stage against Brazil but couldn't do it a second time. After Jonas Thern had been sent off with a red card Romário scored the only goal of the game in the 80th minute.

In the third place match Sweden played against Bulgaria who had lost to Italy in their semi-final match. Sweden scored 4 goals in the first half, but the second half went goal-less. Sweden won the bronze medal, the best placing for the national team in a World Cup play-off since the 1958 silver medal, this led Sweden to the second place of the FIFA World Rankings for one month, in November 1994.

After the World Cup in 1994, Sweden had difficulty reaching up to the same level, the national team was knocked out in qualifying for both the European Championships in England 1996 World Cup in France in 1998. The qualification for the Euro 96 had started with a win for Sweden 1–0 away against Iceland in September 1994, but then lost against Switzerland away from home; in November 1994, Tomas Brolin broke his foot in a win against Hungary. In the spring of 1995 continued failure in the European Championship qualifiers. Sweden lost the away games against Turkey and played 1–1 draw at home to Iceland. When Sweden drew 0–0 against Switzerland in Gothenburg in September 1995, it was clear that the team would miss the European Championship finals.

The qualifying game for the France 98 was not better; in October 1996, Austria won 1–0 in Stockholm and the month after the Swedes lost against Scotland on away ground. Admittedly, Sweden won against Scotland in the return match in Gothenburg on Walpurgis Night in 1997, but in September 1997 won Austria 1–0 in Vienna; in October 1997, Tommy Svensson quit as head coach and Tommy Söderberg took over.

Sweden qualified impressively for this tournament, winning all games except the away game against England (0–0) and conceding only one goal, the finals however, were a great disappointment. Sweden lost their opening game against the host Belgium 1–2. Johan Mjällby scored the goal for Sweden in the 53rd minute after an error by Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, while Belgium won via goals from Bart Goor in the 43rd minute and Émile Mpenza in the 46th. Then Sweden played 0–0 against Turkey and lost 2–1 to Italy, the goal was scored by Henrik Larsson while Italy won via goals from Luigi Di Biagio and Alessandro Del Piero. Sweden finished the group last behind Belgium with only 1 point. Italy finished first and Turkey second.

In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Sweden was drawn in the "group of death", Group F, which also featured big favourites Argentina, England and Nigeria. The first match was against England. Sol Campbell gave England the lead in the first half by heading in a left-side corner from David Beckham. The equalizing goal was scored by midfielder Niclas Alexandersson, a powerful left-foot shot from outside the box past David Seaman, the match ended 1–1. In the next game, Sweden played Nigeria. Julius Aghahowa gave Nigeria the lead by heading in a cross from the right. Sweden managed to equalize with a fine goal by Henrik Larsson. Later in the game, Larsson was fouled in the penalty area and Sweden were awarded with a penalty which Larsson himself put in the goal. Sweden won 2–1.

In the final group match, Sweden played Argentina, who needed to win after losing 0–1 to England in the previous game. Sweden midfielder Anders Svensson scored a freekick goal from 30 meters. Andreas Andersson had a shot off the crossbar and out in an attempt to extend the lead. Mattias Jonson committed a foul in the penalty area and Argentina was awarded a penalty. Ariel Ortega shot straight on Magnus Hedman, the Swedish keeper, but Hernán Crespo rushed into the box and shot the rebound from Hedman between the keeper's legs. The goal was controversial because Crespo began running into the box at the same time as Ortega stepped up to shoot. However, the match ended 1–1 and Sweden won the group, England on second place, Argentina third and Nigeria last.

In the round of 16, Sweden played Senegal. Henrik Larsson gave Sweden an early lead by heading in a corner from Anders Svensson. Senegal equalized through Henri Camara, they also had a goal disallowed for offside. The game came to sudden death golden goal. Rising star Zlatan Ibrahimović came on and nearly won Sweden the game, he made a terrific run on the right wing past several Senegal players, and shot with his weaker left foot from a tight angle straight at Senegal's keeper Tony Sylva. Ibrahimović had Larsson and Svensson in excellent positions for a pass, but shot instead. Then Svensson made a great spin past a defender and hit the post with a powerful shot, which Sylva would have had no chance of saving, had it gone inside the posts. Camara then took a weak shot which went past Hedman, off the post and into the goal. Consequently, Sweden were eliminated.

Sweden came into the tournament in Portugal with low expectations, but after a dazzling 5–0 win against Bulgaria they became one of the favorites. Fredrik Ljungberg began the goal-fest after a well done pass by Zlatan Ibrahimović. Henrik Larsson scored 2–0 and 3–0 in the second half, his first goal was done by a nice header after that he received a perfectly taken crossball by Erik Edman. 4–0 was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović on a penalty and the substitute Marcus Allbäck scored the last goal of the game. After the 5–0 victory, Sweden became a feared team in the tournament and many were surprised by Sweden's offensive play since they were known to mostly play a defensive form of football.

In the next game they were set up against Italy, who would prove themselves as a very hard opponent, after 36 minutes Antonio Cassano scored the first goal of the game for Italy after a cross by Christian Panucci. A great game by Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson made Sweden survive the rest of the game and after 84 minutes Sweden finally managed to score a goal. Ibrahimović made an amazing backheel shot which found the back of the net.

Sweden's last game of the group was held against Denmark, it was said before the game that if Sweden and Denmark played 2–2, Italy would be eliminated from the tournament. This is exactly what happened. Denmark led the game by 2–1 for a long time, but at the end of the game, Mattias Jonson scored the equalizer after numerous rebounds. Italy was eliminated and both Denmark and Sweden was qualified for the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Sweden had to face Holland, the game became goalless after full-time, but not without a lot of chances. The closest Sweden came to scoring was through Fredrik Ljungberg but he hit the post with a well taken shot, but the game ended goalless in normal time and went to a penalty shootout. After a long run of penalties were taken, it was Olof Mellberg's turn to take a shot, the Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved Mellberg's shot and Holland won the game. Sweden was eliminated and Holland was through to the next round.

Sweden competed in Group B at the 2006 World Cup, their squad for the tournament featured players who played club football in eleven different nations. Sweden started the World Cup slowly, recording a goal-less draw against unheralded Trinidad and Tobago, despite playing with a one-man advantage for most of the game, the second game, against Paraguay, looked to be another goal-less draw until Fredrik Ljungberg scored in the 89th minute to give Sweden a 1–0 victory. Sweden then rallied to tie England, 2–2, to finish group play with five points – enough to finish second in its group and advance to the second round. There, the team's World Cup run came to an end with a 2–0 defeat to the host team, Germany.

Sweden finished second in Group F behind Spain, thus qualifying for the finals, the campaign included an abandoned match away to Denmark, for which Sweden were awarded a 3–0 win by UEFA.

In their first match in Euro 2008, they beat the reigning European champions, Greece, by a score of 2–0 with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović and Petter Hansson, their next game was against Spain, who they played in qualifying. The game looked like a draw until a 92nd-minute strike from David Villa, which put the Spaniards ahead; in the final group match, the Swedes went on to lose 2–0 to the Russians, eliminating them from the tournament.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification ended disastrously for Sweden. In the first game in Tirana, they were only able to tie 0–0 with an Albanian side that they were expected to defeat easily. Four days later, Sweden beat Hungary, 2–1, with goals from Kim Källström and Samuel Holmén, they would go on to tie with Portugal twice, both in Stockholm and in Porto. Both games ended 0–0. Sweden would lose to Denmark on home ground with an early strike from Thomas Kahlenberg after a defensive mistake. Sweden had defeated Denmark, 3–0, 2 years earlier. Sweden recovered with a 4–0 hammering of Malta. Against Hungary and Malta, both of the winning goals for Sweden were scored late, they would lose to Denmark again at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen after a late goal from Jakob Poulsen. Meanwhile, Portugal defeated Hungary, 3–0, putting the Portuguese team ahead in the standings. Sweden would defeat Albania, 4–1; however, Sweden was eliminated by Portugal's 4–0 defeat of Malta. Lars Lagerbäck resigned and Erik Hamrén was appointed the next head coach.

Sweden's Euro 2012 campaign with their new coach, Erik Hamrén, started well with two consecutive wins in Group E against Hungary and San Marino. After that Sweden lost to the Netherlands in Amsterdam with 1–4, but then won against Moldova first in Stockholm with 2–1 and later in Chișinău with 4–1, after the battle against Moldova Sweden beat their neighbor Finland with 5–0. The following game was a defeat when Hungary through Rudolf scored 2–1 home at Stadium Puskás Ferenc at the last minute of full-time, after that Sweden defeated San Marino with 5–0 away including two goals from Christian Wilhelmsson, who before the two games against San Marino and Hungary hadn't been a regular in the starting eleven during Hamréns tenure as head coach. The Swedish team then proceeded to beat Finland with 2–1 and in the final game beat the Netherlands with 3–2 to end their streak of 17 consecutive qualification-game wins, on 2 December 2011, Sweden were drawn into Group D alongside England, Ukraine and France in the Euro 2012 competition.[1][2]

In their Euro 2012 opening match Sweden lost against host nation Ukraine with 2–1;[3] in their second group match Sweden lost to England with 3–2, thus eliminating them from the tournament.[4] In the third game, a Swedish team with nothing to lose or gain outplayed France in a 2–0 victory.

Playing in Group C of the 2014 FIFA World Cupqualifiers, Sweden finished second behind Germany, and was one of eight teams to move on to the second round of qualification. A notable result during group play was their match in Germany on 16 October 2012 where they fought back from 4–0 down with 30 minutes remaining to draw the game 4–4 at the Olympiastadion, and was widely regarded as one of the most memorable comebacks in the history.[5]

A key win in their group was the home game against Austria on 11 October 2013, as Martin Olsson and Zlatan Ibrahimović both scored in the second half to secure the win at the Friends Arena.[6]

Using the October 2013 FIFA World Rankings, Sweden was ranked 25th overall and would face one of the four highest ranked teams in the second round of qualification, they were drawn to face Portugal, the team that beat Sweden for a qualification spot in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. After a 1–0 loss in Lisbon and a 3–2 loss in Solna, Portugal won 4–2 on aggregate and Sweden once again failed to qualify for the World Cup.[7]

The Swedish team before playing against Russia in 2015 during the Euro 2016 qualifiers

Competing in Group G of the UEFA Euro 2016qualifiers, Sweden picked up their first point on the road in Austria with a 1–1 draw on 8 September 2014.[8] After a 1–1 draw against Russia at the Friends Arena, Sweden then picked up their first win in their next match with a 2–0 result against Liechtenstein.[9] Sweden then went unbeaten for another three matches before suffering two consecutive defeats, a 1–0 loss to Russia in Moscow and a crushing 4–1 home defeat to group leaders Austria, this caused Sweden to move down to third place in their group, just one point above fourth-placed Montenegro. Sweden then bounced back to win their final two group games against Liechtenstein and Moldova with the scoreline being 2–0 on both occasions, they finished their group in third position behind Austria and Russia and qualified for the playoffs. Sweden were drawn against big rivals Denmark and won 4–3 on aggregate, qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2016, they were, however, eliminated from the group stage from their poor performance. Group G

Swedish supporters showed up first during the 1912 Summer Olympics, where they chanted "Heja Sverige / friskt humör / det är det som susen gör" (roughly meaning "Come on, Sweden / being in good spirits is what does the trick") during the football games.

The traveling supporters for Sweden's away games showed up for the first time in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany, and since then Sweden has always had supporters in large tournaments; in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sweden had one of the largest group of supporters during a tournament, especially during the group stage match against Paraguay with around 50,000 Swedish supporters in attendance, plus an additional 50,000 fans watching the game outside the stadium. The Swedish fans were also voted the best fans during the 2006 World Cup, due to their massive numbers, friendly attitude and love for the game.

Up until 2012, the Swedish national stadium was Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, but it was replaced in 2012 by the new national stadium Friends Arena. According to FIFA, Råsunda Stadion was a classic stadium, one of only two stadiums in the world, the other one being the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, USA, which hosted both the men's and women's World Cup final (1958 FIFA World Cup final and the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup). Råsunda stadium was opened 18 September 1910, and had a capacity of only 2.000, mostly standing. It was Råsunda stadium and Valhalla stadium in Gothenburg that were the first football fields with grass used for Swedish football, the stadium was expanded during 1937, to a capacity of 40,000 people. The stadium was used for the football tournament in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, and hosted 8 games during the FIFA World Cup 1958; in the UEFA European Championship in 1992, the stadium hosted 4 games and in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup it hosted only the final game. But Råsunda stadium is still the only stadium in Scandinavia that has hosted 4 big tournaments. Ullevi in Gothenburg is used for some games which Sweden plays, such as the centennial game of the Swedish football association, against England in 2004. Even other stadiums, such as Swedbank Stadion in Malmö, are used for the national team.

Björn Nordqvist is with 92 matches as team captain the Swedish player with most captaincies.

This is a list of captains who either have played 30 or more matches as team captain or have played a match as team captain in a major tournament (FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro and Olympic Games). Note that only players who started the match as captain are included in the statistics.[15][16]

The order for this list is by most appearances as captain, then chronological order of first captaincy.

Swedish Football Association
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The Swedish Football Association is the governing and head body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and it is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA. SvFF is supported by 24 district organisations, SvFF is affiliated to the Swedish Sports Confederation

UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters we

1.
Henri Delaunay, the first general secretary of UEFA

2.
Union of European Football Associations

Janne Andersson
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Jan Olof Janne Andersson, is a Swedish football coach. He is currently the manager of the Swedish national team and he previously managed Alets IK, Laholms FK and Halmstads BK. He took over Örgryte IS in December 2009, they were relegated to the Swedish 2nd division. In 2011 he became manager for IFK Norrköping who made comeback in Allsvenskan, in

1.
Janne Andersson

2.
Andersson being interviewed during his time as Halmstad BK manager in 2008.

Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the ca

Andreas Granqvist
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Andreas Granqvist is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender. He serves as captain for Krasnodar and the Sweden national football team, born in Påarp, Granqvist started his career with his local club, Påarps GIF. He later transferred to Helsingborgs IF and he made his debut in Allsvenskan,2004, two years later he was team captain, when the clu

1.
Andreas Granqvist

Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players

1.
Sports cap awarded to a Perth Academy schoolboy in the UK in the 1930s

Anders Svensson (footballer, born 1976)
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Anders Gunnar Svensson is a Swedish former footballer. He was a playmaker and a midfielder, known for his passing, free kicks. He was capped 148 times for the Swedish national football team, many times as a captain and he is the most capped male player for Sweden, beating Thomas Ravellis previous record of 143 caps. As well as being named captain o

Friends Arena
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Friends Arena is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of Stockholm City Centre. Since its opening it has served as Swedens national stadium for football, the main tenants of the stadium are Swedens national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK, both relocated from their previous

List of FIFA country codes
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FIFA assigns a three-letter country code to each of its member and non-member countries. These are the codes used by FIFA and its continental confederations as name abbreviations of countries and dependent areas. There are currently 211 FIFA members, each one with its country code. The following codes refer to countries or dependent areas that are

1.
Asia

Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved s

1.
Pavel Nedvěd pictured in 2006 wearing a typical modern football kit

2.
Modern turf shoes, which are designed to be used on hard artificial turf or sand.

FIFA World Rankings
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The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent longest ranked first. A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches, the ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first

World Football Elo Ratings
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The World Football Elo Ratings is a ranking system for mens national association football teams that is published by the website eloratings. net. It is based on the Elo rating system but includes modifications to take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage. Other

1.
Asia

Norway national football team
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The Norway mens national football team represents Norway in international association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norways home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their coach is Lars Lagerbäck. It is, as of March 2017, ranked by FIFA as the 81st best national team i

1.
Norway

2.
John Arne Riise is the most capped player in the history of Norway with 110 caps.

3.
Jørgen Juve is the top goalscorer in the history of Norway with 33 goals.

Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At

Sweden
–
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square ki

1.
A Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.

3.
A romantic nationalist interpretation of Valdemar IV taking control over Gotland. The final battle outside the walls of Visby in 1361 ended with a massacre of 1,800 defenders of the city.

4.
Stockholm in mid-17th century

Latvia national football team
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The Latvia national football team represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. It is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have qualified for the European Championship, in 2004, the team

1.
Latvian fans at Euro 2004

2.
Latvia

Stockholm
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The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC. It is also the capital of Stockholm County, Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The St

South Korea national football team
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The Korea Republic national football team represents South Korea in international association football and is controlled by the Korea Football Association. They have since improved their ability to play on foreign soil and were able to reach the Round of 16 in the 2010 World Cup. South Korea won the first two AFC Asian Cup tournaments though they h

1.
South Korea playing against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup, in June 2010.

2.
Korea Republic

London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city

England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain

United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border wi

4.
The Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.

Great Britain Olympic football team
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The Great Britain Olympic football team is the mens football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games. The team is organised by the English Football Association as the representative of the British Olympic Association. The team only competes in the Olympic Games, in other international football tournaments, the Home Natio

FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title

1934 FIFA World Cup
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The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934, the 1934 World Cup was the first for which teams had to qualify to take part. Thirty-two nations entered the competition, and after qualification,16 teams participated in the

1958 FIFA World Cup
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The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title, the tournament is also notable for marking the debut on the world stage of a then largely unknown 17-year-old Pelé. Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Sweden expres

UEFA European Championship
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Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form UEFA Euro, prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host

1.
The UEFA Euro 2012 opening ceremony

2.
UEFA European Championship Trophy

UEFA Euro 1992
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The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth European Football Championship, which is every four years. The team had qualified only after Yugoslavia was disqualified as a result of the breakup, eight national teams contested the finals tournament. Also present at the tournament was

1.
Stockholm

2.
UEFA Euro 1992 official logo Small is Beautiful

Football at the Summer Olympics
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Association football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a mens competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Womens football was added to the program in 1996. Football was not included on the program at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, however, sources claim that an unofficial football tournament was organized during the first com

1.
Football at the Summer Olympics

1948 Summer Olympics
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The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin, the 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and then for Helsink

1.
The XIV Olympic Games opens in London, 1948

2.
Games of the XIV Olympiad

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A Boy Scout who fainted in the intense heat was the first 'casualty' of the 1948 Olympic Games. The temperature was in the nineties (32°C) as the sun blazed down mercilessly.

4.
Start of the 50 km walk

Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
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Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics tournament, won by Sweden, managed by Englishman George Raynor. This began on 26 July 1948 with a round of two matches, Luxembourg defeating Afghanistan 6–0 and the Netherlands beating Ireland 3–1, with Faas Wilkes scoring two goals for the Dutch. In the first round, which began five days later, the Netherlands

1.
The Sweden team that won the Gold Medal.

2.
The final match ball.

1924 Summer Olympics
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The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France. It was the second time Paris hosted the games, after 1900, the selection process for the 1924 Summer Olympics consisted of six bids, and Paris was selected ahead of Amsterdam, Barcelona

2.
Games of the VIII Olympiad

Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
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At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the football tournament winning the Gold. In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work, the Football Association, perhaps, with foresight considered their statement of 1884 to be one which FIFA should hereafter follow. They had st

1952 Summer Olympics
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The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952. Helsinki had been selected to host the 1940 Summer Olympics. It is the northernmost city at which a summer Olympic Games have been held and it was also the Olympic Games at which the most number of

1950 FIFA World Cup
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The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been cancelled owing to World War II. It was won by Uruguay, who had won the competition in 1930. It was also the first tournament where the trophy was referred to

1994 FIFA World Cup
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The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the tournament remains the highest in World Cup history. Brazil beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the

1.
Lothar Matthäus scoring a penalty kick in Germany's quarterfinal against Bulgaria at Giants Stadium on 10 July. Bulgaria came back to win the game.

Swedish language
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Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of t

3.
Front page of Gustav Vasa 's Bible from 1541, using Fraktur. The title translated to English reads: "The Bible / That is / The Holy Scripture / in Swedish. Printed in Uppsala. 1541".

4.
August Strindberg, one of the most influential writers in modern Swedish literature.

Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the ga

1.
The attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball beyond the opposing team's goalkeeper and between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar to score a goal

4.
A women's international match between the United States and Germany

Football in Sweden
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Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240,000 licensed players with another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, Football was first played in Sweden in the 1870s, the first championship was decided in 1896 and the Swedish Football Association was founded in 1904. Despite

Brazil national football team
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The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international mens association football. Brazil is administered by the Brazilian Football Confederation, the body for football in Brazil. They have been a member of the FIFA since 1923 and member of the CONMEBOL since 1916, Brazil is the most successful national football team in the FIFA World

1958 FIFA World Cup Final
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The 1958 FIFA World Cup Final took place in Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden on 29 June 1958. Brazil won the World Cup by defeating Sweden, and thus won the trophy for the first time, Sweden took the lead after only 4 minutes after an excellent finish by captain Nils Liedholm. The lead didnt last long however as Vavá equalised just 5 minutes later, o

1.
1958 FIFA World Cup Final

1938 FIFA World Cup
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The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final, France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in Berlin on August 13,1936. France defeated Argentina and Germany in the first round of voting, the decision caused outrage in South Ame

England national football team
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The England national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England are one of the two oldest national teams in football, alongside Scotland, whom played in the worlds first international football match in 1872. Englands home ground is Wem

1.
The England team before playing a match against Scotland at Richmond in 1893.

2.
England

3.
Queen Elizabeth II presenting England captain Bobby Moore with the Jules Rimet trophy following England's 4-2 victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final

Netherlands national football team
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The Netherlands national football team represents the Netherlands in international football. It is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association, the body for football in the Netherlands. The team is referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal and Oranje. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes referred to as Holland. The Dutch hold the

Belgium national football team
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The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian teams supervising body. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international leve

Denmark national football team
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Denmarks home ground is Telia Parken in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, and their head coach is Åge Hareide. Denmark were the winners of the Football at the 1906 Intercalated Games and they also managed to win the 1995 Confederations Cup, defeating Argentina in the final. Their best FIFA World Cup result was achieved in 1998, where they narrow

4.
Telia Parken, with a capacity of 38,065 spectators, located in Copenhagen, and used as official home stadium by the Denmark national football team.

Austria national football team
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The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. Austria has qualified for seven World Cups, most recently in 1998, the country played in the European Championship for the first time in 2008 when it co-hoste

1.
Austria national football team before the match against Spain, 2009-11-18

4.
Austria national football team before the match against Sweden, 2013-06-07

Anschluss
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Anschluss is the term used to describe the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. German spelling, until the German orthography reform of 1996, was Anschluß, the idea of an Anschluss began after the Unification of Germany excluded Austria and the Austrian Germans from the Prussian-dominated German nation-state in 1871. Austria was a

1.
German and Austrian border police dismantle a border post in 1938.

2.
Cheering crowds greet the Nazis in Vienna.

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Hitler announces the Anschluss on the Heldenplatz, Vienna, 15 March 1938.

4.
Immediately after the Anschluss, Vienna’s Jews were forced by the local population to clean the city’s pavements.

Cuba national football team
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The Cuba national football team is controlled by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba, the governing body for football in Cuba. They are affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF and they were the first Caribbean team to make the World Cup, which they did in 1938. There, they defeated Romania in a replay 2–1 after drawing against them 3–3

1.
CUBA

Harry Andersson

1.
Harry Andersson, c. 1935

Hat-trick
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A hat-trick or hat trick in sports is the achievement of a positive feat three times in a game, or another achievement based on the number three in some sports. In association and rugby football, the scoring of two goals or tries by one individual in a match is referred to as a brace. The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. St

1.
Swedish Football Association
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The Swedish Football Association is the governing and head body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and it is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA. SvFF is supported by 24 district organisations, SvFF is affiliated to the Swedish Sports Confederation and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and Union of European Football Associations. Karl-Erik Nilsson has been the President since 2012, in 2009 there were 3,359 clubs affiliated to the Svenska Fotbollförbundet with a total of more than a million members, of whom about 500,000 were active players. Together, they accounted for almost one third of the total Swedish sports movement activities, SvFF administers the Swedish mens respectively womens national football teams, other football teams and leagues including the Allsvenskan and Superettan. The motto of Swedish football – one club in every village, all football competition in the nation is arranged by the SvFF and its 24 district organisations. The clubs are voting members at the meetings of the district organisations. The district organisations and the clubs are entitled to vote at the F. A. s general meeting. SvFF was the owner of Swedens national stadium, the Råsunda Stadium in Solna, from 1999 until it was replaced in 2012 by Friends Arena, located about 1 kilometer away. SvFF is the partner in the consortium that owns the current stadium. The Swedish Football Association Football Gala is held annually in November since 2005 and it includes the award for the best male player and female players. SvFF had a turnover 2008 of 554 MSEK, the new organisation had a football and hockey section. In 1904 Sweden was one of 7 nations that founded FIFA, in 1906 the name Svenska Fotbollförbundet was officially accepted and the following year SvFF was officially voted into FIFA. On 12 July 1908, Swedens first international match was played in which Norway were defeated 11–3 in Gothenburg, however the Olympics were a disappointment for Sweden, losing 1–12 to England and 0–2 to the Netherlands. The 24 district organisations are as follows, Swedish Football Association Svenska Fotbollslandslagen Facebook Sweden at FIFA site Sweden at UEFA site

2.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973

UEFA
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Henri Delaunay, the first general secretary of UEFA
UEFA
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Union of European Football Associations

3.
Janne Andersson
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Jan Olof Janne Andersson, is a Swedish football coach. He is currently the manager of the Swedish national team and he previously managed Alets IK, Laholms FK and Halmstads BK. He took over Örgryte IS in December 2009, they were relegated to the Swedish 2nd division. In 2011 he became manager for IFK Norrköping who made comeback in Allsvenskan, in 2015 he became a local hero when IFK surprised everyone and won the league after they defeated former champions Malmö FF away in the last game. IFK Norrköping Allsvenskan,2015 Allsvenskan As of 28 March 2017, Örgryte IS Football in Sweden Superettan

Janne Andersson
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Janne Andersson
Janne Andersson
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Andersson being interviewed during his time as Halmstad BK manager in 2008.

4.
Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will also be the first one to hoist it. The captain also generally leads the teams out of the room at the start of the match. The captain generally provides a point for the team, if morale is low. Captains may join the manager in deciding the first team for a certain game, in youth or recreational football, the captain often takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is usually appointed for a season, if he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, then the club vice-captain will be appointed to perform a similar role. The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one, a good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, a club may appoint two distinct roles, a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, and correspondent on the pitch. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain, são Paulos Rogério Ceni is the player who has worn the captains armband the most times. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game. Examples include Manuel Neuer succeeding Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich, Marcelo attaining from Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid C. F, gary Cahill being the understudy of John Terry at Chelsea FC and Lionel Messi taking over from Andrés Iniesta at FC Barcelona. Similarly, some clubs also name a 3rd captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had skippered the team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany, as Ballack was never called up for the national team

5.
Andreas Granqvist
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Andreas Granqvist is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender. He serves as captain for Krasnodar and the Sweden national football team, born in Påarp, Granqvist started his career with his local club, Påarps GIF. He later transferred to Helsingborgs IF and he made his debut in Allsvenskan,2004, two years later he was team captain, when the club won its third Swedish Cup title, beating Gefle with 2–0. The victorious Helsingborg side also contained Swedish internationals Henrik Larsson and Andreas Jakobsson as well as former Hibernian goalkeeper Daniel Andersson, in January 2007, he completed a loan move to Wigan Athletic with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. On 19 June 2007, Granqvist signed a deal with Wigan. On 12 March 2008, Granqvist returned to Helsingborg on a deal until the end of the English season in June. On 9 July 2008 Granqvist signed a contract with Dutch club, Groningen. On 13 September 2008, Granqvist scored after a 65-metre solo run, a remarkable feat, on 15 June 2011, Groningen sold Granqvist to Genoa for €2 million. The Swedish international has signed a contract with the Italian club. On 16 August 2013, Granqvist moved from Genoa to Russian Premier League side Krasnodar, Granqvist has played for the Swedish national team, and, in May 2008, he was included in Swedens 23-men squad for UEFA Euro 2008. However, he was a substitute in all three of Swedens games. On July 6,2016 Granqvist was appointed captain of the Swedish national team by the new manager Janne Andersson, Granqvist succeeded Zlatan Ibrahimović due to his retirement after the UEFA Euro 2016. As of 9 January 2015 Statistics accurate as of 15 November 2016 Andreas Asterio Granqvist at Soccerbase

Andreas Granqvist
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Andreas Granqvist

6.
Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. These to be termed International Caps, the act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Thus, a cap is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, the practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a debut or, particularly for national teams. As an example, the England mens association football teams still awards physical caps, Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a cap for the competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. In mens association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt, the first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Englands Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England,90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain, however, it is a players choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team. In cricket, there are two types of caps, firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a county cap, the latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance, instead, indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap. The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tendulkar also holds the record for One Day Internationals, with 463 caps. In rugby union,35 players have reached 100 international caps as of 5 June 2012, Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded, the Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, the record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games and second place is former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki with 55 games. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, mens Records and Facts FIFA Players with 100+ Caps RSSSF Picture of International Football Cap National Museum of Scotland Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps

Cap (sport)
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Sports cap awarded to a Perth Academy schoolboy in the UK in the 1930s

7.
Anders Svensson (footballer, born 1976)
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Anders Gunnar Svensson is a Swedish former footballer. He was a playmaker and a midfielder, known for his passing, free kicks. He was capped 148 times for the Swedish national football team, many times as a captain and he is the most capped male player for Sweden, beating Thomas Ravellis previous record of 143 caps. As well as being named captain of Sweden on several occasions, Svensson also captained Southampton and he played important roles in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, in which he proved his leadership skills, resulting in him being named captain of Sweden in 2009. He is the sixth most capped player in Europe after Iker Casillas, Lothar Matthäus, Vitālijs Astafjevs, Martin Reim, Svensson also represented the Swedish national football team for three consecutive European Championships in 2004,2008, and 2012. Svensson was born on 17 July 1976 in Gothenburg to parents Bertil, Svensson has three brothers, the oldest one, Thomas, Kristoffer, and the youngest one, Marcus. His father Bertil was his coach at Guldhedens IK and he grew up watching English football on television, and when he finally played the game, he was compared with one of the best talents of English football David Beckham. In 1980, Svensson played for Guldhedens IK, where he played for ten years, Svensson began playing football at Guldhedens IK, when he was around five. He played at Guldhedens IK for ten years, until he moved to Borås, as his role on the pitch was that of an offensive midfielder, although at Southampton he also played on the left side of midfield. He made his breakthrough while playing for IF Elfsborg in the late 1990s before moving to English side Southampton in 2001, Svensson moved to Southampton on 14 June 2001 for a £750,000 transfer fee. In the very first year of his Premier League adventure, Svensson scored 4 goals in 35 appearances for the Saints, in England, he was a key player for Southampton, although near the end of his time with the club, he rarely cracked Gordon Strachans starting-11. He played an important role for Southampton in their success for the 2002–03 FA Cup and their opening match was a 4–0 win against fellow league club Tottenham Hotspur. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal, Svensson also played the 2003–04 UEFA Cup for the Saints, but the club was knocked out of the tournament in the first round. During his time for the Saints, Svensson made 140 appearances, despite chairman Rupert Lowe allegedly offering a new contract, Svensson turned down the offer in order to return to his former club IF Elfsborg. He rejoined Elfsborg in 2005 and was the captain of the team until 2014, after another 10 years at IF Elfsborg Svensson decided to announce his retirement from professional football in 2015. In 1996, he debuted in the Swedish under-21 team, in 1998, he played in the U-21 championships along with Jörgen Pettersson, Yksel Osmanovski, Daniel Andersson, and Fredrik Ljungberg. He debuted for the Swedish national side against South Africa in 1999 and he set up the opening goal for Henrik Larsson against Senegal through an in-swinging corner. He nearly scored a goal in extra time, but his shot from inside the box was denied by the post

Anders Svensson (footballer, born 1976)
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Svensson playing for Elfsborg in 2012

8.
Friends Arena
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Friends Arena is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of Stockholm City Centre. Since its opening it has served as Swedens national stadium for football, the main tenants of the stadium are Swedens national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK, both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches. Friends Arena is the largest football stadium, and indoor venue and it was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor and it replaced Råsunda Stadium, Swedens former national arena for football. Råsunda will be torn down and will be the first stadium that hosted a FIFA World Cup in history to be removed, blocks of 700 flats and office buildings will be erected on the site. Swedbank acquired the rights to the new stadium in a 153 million kronor deal that will last until 2023. As such, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena, on 22 August 2012, Friends Arena unveiled the plans for the opening ceremony which took place on 27 October 2012. The theme for the show was Swedish Moments and it was directed by Colin Nutley, the stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes, for example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Swedens national team is playing matches. Friends Arena is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres, in the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition,647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience, crown Princess Victoria of Sweden declared Friends Arena inaugurated at the opening ceremony which took place in the venue at 27 October 2012. The show, directed by famous Swedish director Colin Nutley, was entitled Svenska Ögonblick, artists like Agnes Carlsson, The Hives, Icona Pop, Loreen, First Aid Kit and Roxette performed in front of a crowd of 46,000 people. Furthermore,1,700,000 TV viewers watched the show live at SVT1. Swedish House Mafia made three acclaimed concerts during their One Last Tour in the arena, a total of approximately 115,000 people visited Friends Arena during the three sold-out concerts in November 2012. At 14 November 2012, the stadium hosted its first football game, zlatan Ibrahimović scored the first goal at Swedens new national stadium in the 4–2 victory against England. The game was seen by 49,967 people, which is the current attendance record for a sport event. A spectacular new record for Swedish bandy was set at the 2013 Swedish Bandy Championship Final, AIK played their first competitive football match at April 7,2013

9.
List of FIFA country codes
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FIFA assigns a three-letter country code to each of its member and non-member countries. These are the codes used by FIFA and its continental confederations as name abbreviations of countries and dependent areas. There are currently 211 FIFA members, each one with its country code. The following codes refer to countries or dependent areas that are not affiliated with FIFA. Even though they are members or associate members of their regional confederations, the following codes are obsolete because a country has ceased to exist, changed its name, changed its code, or has become part of another country. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation Usenet group

List of FIFA country codes
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Asia

10.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread

11.
FIFA World Rankings
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The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent longest ranked first. A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches, the ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on 12 July 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the four years instead of the previous eight years. Alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football Elo Ratings, based on the Elo rating system used in chess and Go, ranking teams. In December 1992, FIFA first published a listing in order of its member associations to provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. From the following August, this list was more frequently updated, significant changes were implemented in January 1999 and again in July 2006, as a reaction to criticisms of the system. Membership of FIFA has expanded from 167 to 209 since the rankings began, the ranking formula used from August 1993 until December 1998 was very simplistic and quickly became noticed for its lack of supporting factors. When the rankings were introduced, a team received one point for a draw or three for a victory in FIFA-recognised matches – much the same as a traditional league scoring system. This was a simplistic approach, however, and FIFA quickly realised that there were many factors affecting international matches. In order to meet the objective of fairly and accurately comparing the strengths of various national sides. In January 1999, FIFA introduced a system of ranking calculation. For the ranking all matches, their scores and importance were all recorded, only matches for the senior mens national team were included. Separate ranking systems were used for other national sides such as womens and junior teams. The womens rankings were, and still are, based on a procedure which is a version of the Football Elo Ratings. FIFA announced that the system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup. The evaluation period was cut from eight to four years, goals scored and home or away advantage are no longer taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The first set of revised rankings and the methodology were announced on 12 July 2006. This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the ranking system

FIFA World Rankings

12.
World Football Elo Ratings
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The World Football Elo Ratings is a ranking system for mens national association football teams that is published by the website eloratings. net. It is based on the Elo rating system but includes modifications to take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage. Other implementations of the Elo rating system are possible and there is no single nor any official Elo ranking for football teams. The FIFA World Rankings, not based on the Elo method, is the national teams rating system used by the international governing body of football and is therefore more prevalent. The ratings consider all international A matches for which results could be found, Ratings tend to converge on a teams true strength relative to its competitors after about 30 matches. Ratings for teams with fewer than 30 matches should be considered provisional, the FIFA Womens World Rankings system uses a modified version of the Elo formula whereas the FIFA mens ranking system uses a non-Elo formula. The following table shows the top 100 teams in the World Football Elo Ratings on 29 March 2017, each national teams FIFA World Rankings are shown as they were in the latest release on 6 April 2017. Time averaged Elo or Elo-like scores are used to compare chess player strengths. The following is a list of the teams with the highest average Elo score from 1 January 1970 to 1 January 2017. Before this time intercontinental play was limited and many nations in Africa, North America. The team in each confederation that has achieved the highest rank is shown in color, the following is a list of national football teams ranked by their highest Elo ranking ever reached. Note that for the highest ranking/rating of a football team the Elo ratings website ignores the ranking/rating before 30 matches have been played. The table below shows the teams with the best average Elo score per decade, a list of the 16 matches between teams with the highest combined Elo ratings. A list of the matches with the biggest point exchange, the nations points before the matches are given. In 1997 Bob Runyan adapted the Elo rating system to international football and he was also the first maintainer of the World Football Elo Ratings web site, now maintained by Kirill Bulygin. The Elo system was adapted for football by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home advantage. Ratings tend to converge on a teams true strength relative to its competitors after about 30 matches, Ratings for teams with fewer than 30 matches should be considered provisional. There is no first step as in the FIFA system where a team receives points for the result

World Football Elo Ratings
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Asia

13.
Norway national football team
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The Norway mens national football team represents Norway in international association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norways home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their coach is Lars Lagerbäck. It is, as of March 2017, ranked by FIFA as the 81st best national team in the world, Norway has participated three times in the FIFA World Cup, and once in the UEFA European Championship. Norway is also notable as the national team that has never lost any of the matches it has played against Brazil. In four matches played, Norway has a 2–0–2 record against Brazil, Norways performances in international football have usually been weaker than those of their Scandinavian neighbours Sweden and Denmark, but they did have a golden age in the late 1930s. An Olympic team achieved third place in the 1936 Olympics, after beating the hosts Germany earlier in the tournament, Norway also qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 2–1 after extra time against eventual champions Italy. This turned out to be Norways last World Cup finals appearance in 56 years, in the post-war years, up to and including the 1980s, Norway was usually considered as one of the weaker nations in Europe. They never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship in this period, Norway had their most successful period from 1990 to 1998 under the legendary coach Egil Drillo Olsen. At its height in the mid-90s the team was ranked second on the FIFA World Rankings. In the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Norway was knocked out at the stage after a win against Mexico, a defeat against Italy. Former under-21 coach Nils Johan Semb replaced Olsen after the retirement of the latter. Under Sembs guidance, Norway qualified for Euro 2000, which remains their last finals appearance to date, Semb resigned at the end of an unsuccessful qualifying campaign in 2003, and was replaced by Åge Hareide. Under Hareide, Norway came close to reaching both the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, but ultimately fell short on both occasions, then, in 2008, it all fell apart as Norway failed to win a single game the entire calendar year. Hareide resigned at the end of 2008 and his replacement, initially on a temporary basis, was the returning Egil Olsen, who began his second spell in charge with an away win against Germany, and subsequently signed a three-year contract. Olsen resigned in September 2013 after Norway lost at home to Switzerland and he was replaced with Per-Mathias Høgmo. Norways best single result is arguably the 2–1 win against Brazil on 23 June 1998 in the World Cup group stage, Norway is in fact the only team in the world that has played against Brazil and never lost. In its four matches all-time against Brazil, Norway have won twice, Norway used the national flag on a white circle as their badge from the 1920s onwards. In May 2008 the NFF unveiled a new crest, a Viking-style Dragon wrapped around the NFF logo, after massive public pressure the crest was dropped

Norway national football team
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Norway
Norway national football team
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John Arne Riise is the most capped player in the history of Norway with 110 caps.
Norway national football team
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Jørgen Juve is the top goalscorer in the history of Norway with 33 goals.

14.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city

15.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe

Sweden
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A Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.
Sweden
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Flag
Sweden
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A romantic nationalist interpretation of Valdemar IV taking control over Gotland. The final battle outside the walls of Visby in 1361 ended with a massacre of 1,800 defenders of the city.
Sweden
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Stockholm in mid-17th century

16.
Latvia national football team
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The Latvia national football team represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. It is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have qualified for the European Championship, in 2004, the team is now being managed by Marians Pahars. Latvias home ground is the Skonto Stadium in Riga, where they have played their matches since its opening in 2000, Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Latvia have won the Baltic Cup 12 times, and have played 99 official games during its period from 1922 to 1940. In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 World Cup, Latvia were placed in Group 8, alongside Austria and Lithuania. Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga, after an Fricis Kaņeps hat-trick, in Kaunas, they won 5–1, after two goals each from Kaņeps, Vaclavs Borduško, and Vestermans, but lost 1–2 in the decisive match against Austria, despite an early goal from Vestermans. In April 1938, the Austrian Anschluss relegated the Austrian team, however, in September 2003, Latvia surprisingly finished second, ahead of Poland, in their qualifying group for Euro 2004. This meant they qualified for the play-offs, where they were drawn against Turkey, Latvia won the first leg 1–0, through top goalscorer, Māris Verpakovskis. The second leg finished in a 2–2 draw, with Latvia winning 3–2 on aggregate and this resulted in Latvia being the first and only Baltic team qualifying for a European Championship, as well as the country itselfs first ever appearance in the tournament. At the Euro 2004, Latvia were drawn in Group D, alongside Germany, Czech Republic, Latvia faced Czech Republic in their opening match on 15 June 2004, with Verpakovskis scoring before half-time. However, the Czechs would later come back to win the game 2–1, four days later, Latvia earned a respectable 0–0 draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. They lost their match with 3–0 against Netherlands, and were eliminated, finished fourth, with one point from their draw. Before the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament, Latvia were the team who qualified to the European Championship. 13-time winners –1928,1932,1933,1936,1937,1993,1995,2001,2003,2008,2012,2014,2016, the following table shows Latvias all-time international record, correct as of 13 November 2015. *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks, vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more than anyone else, with 167 caps from 1992 to 2010. He also held the European record for almost 7 years for most matches played for the team since autumn 2009 until summer 2016. Kaspars Gorkšs is the most capped player for Latvia with 84 appearances

Latvia national football team
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Latvian fans at Euro 2004
Latvia national football team
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Latvia

17.
Stockholm
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The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC. It is also the capital of Stockholm County, Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the countrys GDP and it is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europes top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and it hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the citys most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is known for its decoration of the stations. Swedens national football arena is located north of the city centre, Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Ministers residence is adjacent at the Sager House. After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BCE, there were already a number of people living in the present-day Stockholm area. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable, at the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive impact on the area because of the trade routes they created. Stockholms location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne, the earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word meaning fortification, the second part of the name means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. Stockholms core, the present Old Town was built on the island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid 13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League, Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time